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MARTINSVILLE, Va. - When Kurt Busch was eliminated from NASCAR title contention, it became apparent to both the driver and his owner that if a change was going to be made to his team it had to be done soon.The change was a dramatic one: Stewart-Haas Racing will swap the crew chiefs for Busch and Danica Patrick beginning next week, giving each driver three races to work with their new teams. NASCAR has issued a ban on testing next season, so SHR believes it is giving its two teams a jump on 2015.For Busch, who won at Martinsville Speedway in March and made the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship, the change was necessary to give team owner Gene Haas the results he wants. Haas hand-picked Busch to drive a new fourth car for SHR, but Busch believe he has underperformed with first-year crew chief Daniel Knost.I think thats why Gene Haas wanted to make a change. He wants more, Busch said Friday at Martinsville. Winning a race and getting in the Chase isnt what the 41 car is here to do. Its to be competitive week in and week out and have shots at winning.Tony Gibson will move from Patricks car to Buschs car, and Knost will take over Patricks team. Both will bring their entire crews with them, and both will start with next weeks test at Homestead.Busch is excited to get a veteran crew chief in Gibson, who worked on Alan Kulwickis 1992 championship team and had stops at Hendrick Motorsports and Dale Earnhardt Inc.Knost has an engineering background and didnt suit Buschs style. He likes the old-school sense he had early in his career with Jimmy Fennig, who led him to the 2004 championship at Roush Fenway Racing, and with Todd Berrier, who guided Busch to a Chase berth last year at Furniture Row Racing.Busch said his troubles at Team Penske began when the organization became more engineering-driven.At Penske, some of the issues that were arising from the engineers advancing through the systems werent necessarily what was going to work best with me, Busch said.Knosts background will suit Patrick, who is engineering-driven from her time in IndyCar.As far as Daniel, hes a young, aggressive, very smart engineer. Danica is kind of used to more of that feeling with the engineers from her background, said SHR competition director Greg Zipadelli. She actually a while ago talked about working with a younger engineer and building that relationship over time. I just feel like it was a time to do it.Zipadelli noted that Patrick has run better the last two months and her qualifying is up — her average starting spot is 21.3 compared to 30.1 last season — but shes 27th in the Sprint Cup standings.Shes made a ton of progress, Zipadelli said. Her speed on the racetrack, her qualifying is better, but her race finishes arent. And at the end of the day, thats really what counts. So how do we help and encourage that?Knost was an engineer for Patrick when Zipadelli was her crew chief during her partial 2012 Cup season with SHR and already has a relationship with her crew chief.Still, hes only been given an interim tag and has three races to work things out with Patrick.We click and the things that are felt in the race car and then conveyed over the radio and the changes that are made in relationship to that, if that takes a fast course and a good direction and we seem to click well and make progress throughout the weekend, then I think that will be a really positive sign, Patrick said. Thats always a challenge. If thats good, then I feel like thats a good sign for the future.For now, the biggest concern seems to be regarding how Gibson handles Busch, who tends to get heated on the radio with his crew chiefs. Zipadelli acknowledged that Knost was thrown to the wolves in that regard, but contends Gibsons experience makes it a non-factor.Thats just one of those things that comes along with Kurt, Zipadelli said. I think (Gibsons) heard it all. You let it go in one ear and out the other. Air Max 720 Sale Australia . - The Chicago Bears have agreed to a one-year contract with free-agent centre Brian de la Puente. Cheap Air Max 720 Australia .Murray has played 20 matches in five weeks, winning three titles to climb to fifth in the ATP Race.The two-time Grand Slam champion also seeks to qualify for next months ATP World Tour Finals.Murray said: I always wanted to qualify for it, but also I want to get back into the top 8 players in the world and it makes a huge difference for seedings in the major events. http://www.airmax720australia.com/. The lightning strike was in the parking lot of Crew Stadium on Saturday night, but its not known if the off-duty lieutenant was struck directly, Columbus Fire Department Battalion Chief Tracy Smith said. The firefighter, identified as Lt. Cheap Air Max 720 Wholesale .com) - His team lost in the round of 16 of the FCS playoffs, yet Northern Iowa football coach Mark Farley says his team has made a strong case to be voted to the top 5 in the final rankings. Air Max 720 Buy Australia .com) - The Vancouver Canucks will try to win two straight games for the first time since mid-January on Monday night as they play host to the struggling New York Islanders.DALLAS -- Monta Ellis scored 26 points, Dirk Nowitzki added 21 and the Dallas Mavericks pulled away from the Denver Nuggets in the fourth quarter of a 122-106 victory Friday night. The Mavericks avoided a season sweep by the Nuggets, who ran away with a win in Denver two weeks ago to hand Dallas its longest losing streak at three games. Dallas (42-28) got a boost in the playoff race when Miami rallied from seven down in the last 3 1/2 minutes to beat Memphis 91-86 Friday night. The Mavericks and Grizzlies (40-28) started the day in a virtual tie for the final post-season spot in the Western Conference. Vince Carter shook off a dislocated pinkie on his left hand in the first quarter to finish with 13. J.J. Hickson led Denver with 18 points and eight rebounds before leaving with an apparent injury in the fourth quarter. Ty Lawson had 17 points and nine assists after missing a game with a sinus infection, and Randy Foye scored 15, all on 3-pointers. The Mavericks led by 15 early in the fourth quarter but couldnt put the Nuggets away until late. Denver was within 99-96 after a 3-pointer and dunk from Dallas native Darrell Arthur, who had nine of his 11 points in the second half. But Nowitzki hit back-to-back fadeaway jumpers and Brandan Wright and Shawn Marion took turns feeding each other for baskets, the last one Marions dunk for a 109-99 lead with 4 minutes to go. Wright, a 6-foot-10 centre, had all three of his assists in a 4-minute stretch of the fourth quarter and finished with 13 points. Marion scored 14 as the Mavericks had seven players in doubble figures.dddddddddddd Ellis, who scored 12 straight Dallas points to force overtime in a loss to Minnesota on Wednesday, ran off eight straight to put the Nuggets away and clinch a winning season after a 12-year run of winning records ended with a 41-41 mark last season. Ellis was 11-of-14 shooting and had seven assists. Hickson helped keep Denver close with 10 second-half points and was four shy of his season high against the Mavericks in November before going out. The Mavericks avoided the slow starts that plagued them the last time they played Denver and in an overtime loss to Minnesota, another West also-ran, in their last game. Jae Crowder really got Dallas going in the second quarter, going 4 of 4 from 3-point range, including three straight Dallas baskets that put the Mavericks up 50-36. Averaging 4.7 points per game coming in, Crowder led Dallas in the first half with 12 points but didnt attempt another shot. NOTES: The teams combined to go 25 of 52 from 3-point range. The Nuggets had 13 from long range and the Mavericks had 12. The season high is 12 for both teams. ... Nuggets C Kenneth Faried got a technical in the third quarter after colliding with Jose Calderon and knocking the Dallas guard to the floor. ... The Nuggets swept the season series with Dallas in 2008-09 and won four straight over the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons. ... The Mavericks recalled G Gal Mekel from the Texas Legends of the D-League. 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